Reigning Triplets
by M.L. Widmann
Summary: AU fic. The Triplets: Quinn, the popular one, Charlie, the smart one, and Dana, the punk one. The Fabrays go to McKinley and try to deal with being around one another while attempting to be individuals.
1. New Kids in School

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Glee_, nor do I really own the idea for this fanfic. I was surfing Tumblr when someone posted three photos of Quinn – one of her in her Cheerios uniform, one of her with her hair down, smiling, and one of her from the season three promo, short, pink hair and punk-rock. Next to each of these photos was a name: Quinn, Charlie and Dana.

And that is where this fic stems from – the idea that instead of Quinn being a teenager with multiple personalities, there are actually three Fabray girls.

**Reigning Triplets**

Chapter One: The New Kids in School

"This sucks," said Dana Fabray moodily. "Why do we have to go to _this_ school?"

"Shut up, Dana. It can't be that bad." Charlie smiled up at William McKinley High School. Quinn, the last girl, hadn't said anything. She valued the power of silence, and much preferred to keep things to herself – especially when it came to her twin sisters. All three girls had angelic faces, the same dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, but everything else about them made others question if they were really related at all, let alone triplets.

Dana Fabray cut her long, wavy hair to a short length as soon as she was thirteen, much to their mother's objections. She added the pink streaks and nose ring the summer before coming to McKinley. Dana was definitely the most outgoing of the three of them, despite how foolishly she used that trait a lot of the time. She was very smart; it was a shame she didn't apply herself.

Charlie Fabray had no piercings, no tattoos, no scars, and no time for any of those to occur. Her long hair was mostly kept down, because she had no time between studying, tutoring and her extracurricular activities to doll herself up. She hardly ever wore makeup, and her clothes were very simple. Charlie had reading glasses, but she stopped wearing them when kids in middle school bullied her for being a nerd. She kept the reading minimal unless she was at home to refrain from getting headaches.

Then there was Quinn Fabray. Quinn mostly kept to herself around her family, but her social life was wild. She was out of the house almost every night and with a different group of people each time. She didn't need to wear a smile to be gorgeous, so she often didn't. Her fashion sense, her athletic ability and her persuasive personality got her whatever she wanted without having to be very pleasant about anything.

Even their school schedules were different. The one class they all shared was English, and that was only because it was required for all students in tenth grade. As the Fabrays walked down the hall side by side, they got queer looks from every single person who passed them.

"What are you lookin' at?" Dana snapped at them. "I can punch you all in the throat, y'know!" And at once, that problem was taken care of.

When they reached English class, they opted to sit as far apart as possible, though it didn't take away from the fact that everyone was staring at them. Quinn noticed a cute boy sitting on the side of the room, so she took the seat next to him. Dana sat as far back as she could, even if it meant having no one around her. Charlie, to none of the Fabrays' surprise, took the seat front and centre that everyone else was hesitant to claim.

Then, the teacher came in. He was a fairly short, balding man with square glasses he wore on the edge of his nose. "Hello everyone – welcome back! Hope you all had a good summer…" he said, clearly having had rehearsed these lines after so many years of teaching. "Before we start…" At that moment, a boy came strutting into class fashionably late. He caught everyone's eyes with his muscles and mohawk, except Dana, who didn't even look up until the boy took one of the empty seats next to her. "Nice of you to join us, sir," the teacher said sarcastically. "My name is Mr. Chaplin, for those of you who don't already know. I like baseball and reading true crime novels. Now that you know a little bit about me, I'd like to learn a little bit about you."

The entire class groaned. No one liked having to introduce themselves to their peers, but it was an issue that always came up on the first day of school. Charlie sighed and put her hand up, offering her introduction before anyone asked for it. "My name is Charlie Fabray. I uh… I'm sorry, I just moved here and I'm a little nervous right now."

"It's alright, take your time," Mr. Chaplin smiled warmly, calming her down. "What are you interested in doing at this school?"

"I'm a bit of an over-achiever," Charlie giggled and readjusted her red beret. "I'd love to join a science club or math club or something, if you offer it… I also really like singing, so maybe choir, too."

"Well, the sign-up lists for extracurriculars go up after school, if you're interested," said Mr. Chaplin.

"Rockin'!" Charlie beamed.

"Alright, who's next?"

About halfway through everyone's introductions, it was Quinn's turn. Chaplin seemed to be going from the front of the classroom toward the back. "I'm Quinn Fabray…"

"Charlie's twin, no doubt?" Chaplin asked with a smile.

Quinn rolled her eyes. She hated being known just by her family. "Yeah, and Dana's, too." She jerked her thumb back at the most unique-looking of the three of them and continued as to not allow anyone to make a big deal of it. "I'm Quinn, and I guess I'm more into sports than school." Quinn loved leaving a lot of her personality up to mystery. They'd find out how popular she was soon enough.

"Next?"

The boy next to Quinn exhaled and began to stutter. "I'm uh, I'm Finn Hudson. Most of you know me from the football team… Uh, yeah, that's it."

"Alright, and which one of you wants to go first?" Chaplin asked, motioning to the back of the room.

Both Dana and the mohawk boy looked at each other and shrugged. Mohawk leaned back in his chair and began to speak. "I'm Puck."

"Your name isn't on the list, Puck."

"The list will say I'm Noah Puckerman," Puck confessed, earning a snort from Dana who covered her mouth as to not laugh even more. "But if anyone calls me that, I swear, I'll kick your butt."

The class fell silent, and Dana found herself trying hard to stifle her laughter. "I'm Dana, the last Fabray, and uh, I play a few instruments… guitar, bass, sax, stuff like that."

"You into football?" Puck asked her with a bit of a subtle wink.

Dana let one side of her mouth fall as she raised her eyebrow. "Not particularly interested in football, but I'm not one to shoot things down until I try it out."

The bell rang, indicating class was over, and Puck stood with the rest of the class. "See you tomorrow," he said with a cool nod.

By the end of the day, they were all sick of telling people who they were and what they liked, but there was one more stop they had to make before going home: the team sign-up sheets.

When Quinn got there, Charlie already had her pen in hand, signing up for everything she could. "What are you signing up for?" Quinn asked with a small sarcastic chuckle.

Charlie, who was juggling her textbooks, notebooks, and pen, responded as she kept signing her name, "Science Club, Mathletes, Poetry Club, Yearbook Club and… Glee!" The last word didn't leave her mouth until the words 'Charlie Fabray' were signed on the final sheet. "What are you going to try out for this year?"

Quinn approached one list – cheerleading – and wrote her name in simple print at the bottom of the list. "See you at home."

As Quinn walked off, nose in the air, Charlie lost control of her books and they all went crashing to the floor. "Oh shoot!" she said, stooping to the floor.

"H-h-here, let me h-h-help you with that!" A girl with long black hair and purple streaks ducked down and started collecting some of the books for her. When Charlie finally got a chance to look up at the girl, she noticed her cat-like eyes doused in green makeup and her black lacy clothing.

"Thanks," said Charlie softly.

"No p-p-problem." And with that, the shy goth girl continued quickly down the hallway.

While Charlie was on the ground, she had missed Dana writing her name under the 'Band' list and stalking off without bothering to say a word.


	2. Tryouts

Chapter Two: Tryouts

"Lopez, Santana!" the loud Coach Sylvester shouted through a megaphone. Quinn watched from the bleachers as a striking Latina girl strutted to the middle of the gymnasium, standing before the Coach, who wore a full red tracksuit. "Let's see what you got!" Sylvester bellowed into the megaphone before putting it down and picking up her clipboard. Santana's tight black ponytail spun wildly as she did cartwheels and jumped into spectacular round-offs around the gym. Her confident smirk when she landed in her starting position was both unsettling and inspiring to Quinn.

"How did I do?" asked Santana, hardly panting or sweating very much at all.

"I'll tell you that when I've seen all the other tryouts!" snapped the Coach. "Next up: Fabray, Quinn!"

Quinn stood confidently. She put one hand on her hip and the other, out at her side, and wiggled her hips as she walked to the centre of the room. "I'm Quinn Fabray."

"Good, go!"

The moment Coach Sylvester said her final word, Quinn found herself jumping into the air. Over the past week, she had come up with the perfect mix of both flips and simple cheering. She had practiced for hours, but the tryout itself only lasted about a minute. During one of the round-offs, Quinn felt her arm quiver but prayed it wasn't anything that could be seen. She strived to be perfect so hard that when she returned to the mascot's face on the gym floor, her wide smile hadn't even faded since the beginning of her routine. Coach Sylvester's lips were pressed together as she studied Quinn. "Coach?" Quinn asked. The tone in her voice was as smooth as butter cream frosting.

Sylvester looked at Quinn as her chin was stuck high in the air. After a moment's pause, she replied, "I think I've found a new head Cheerio." Santana and a few of the other girls came over to congratulate Quinn, who's already-wide smile somehow grew.

"Congrats, girl, Sue Sylvester is a tough egg to crack!" Santana chuckled. "We best be cheering together for a while."

"But have you even made the team yet?" asked Quinn.

Santana pursed her lips together as she continued laughing. "Didn't you see my routine? She has no choice but to pick me!"

"I thought your tryout was super amazing, Santana," said a girl with very light blonde hair who stood next to her.

"This is Brittany, by the way," said Santana to Quinn.

Brittany took a step forward and looked dumbly at Quinn. "I'm happy you got Head Cheerio, but... does that mean you taste better than all the other Cheerios?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow at her sceptically and Santana shook her head at her. "Just forget it, hun."

"Dana Fabray?" said the student teacher who ran band practice. Carlos Mendes was in his early twenties, often substituted for other classes. He wore his dark brown hair in low spikes and he was kind of scrawny; but he played a number of instruments and studied music in school, so the other teachers decided he would be the best to take over band. "Dana?" From where Carlos sat in the choir room, he could see no sign of any girls. "Is Dana not here?"

"I'm here!" The door shut loudly behind her and she took long strides until she was standing in front of him. "Sorry, man. I had a detention to serve."

Carlos' lips curved into a smile and motioned for her to stand in the middle of the room. "What do you play, Miss Fabray?"

"Well, what spots are open?" she smirked. "I can play anything you want me to."

"What did you bring with you today?"

"My guitar."

"So why don't you give us some guitar?"

Dana carelessly dropped her guitar case on the ground, pulled the red electric from its case and plugged it in to the nearest amp. "Anything in particular you wanna hear?

"Whatever you've got planned is fine, Dana."

"I didn't really plan anything, but whatever, I'm in the mood for some Bo-Rhap." Referring to Queen's _Bohemian Rhapsody_, Dana started playing from the first solo, through the third verse and almost to the end, almost flawlessly. What she lacked in real technique, Dana made up for with utter passion – a passion Carlos just couldn't let go.

"That was amazing, Dana! Good work!"

She flipped her pink bangs out of her face, a sexy pout still on her face. "I can play something else for you, bass, maybe drums..."

"Your guitar is really good enough, Dana. I'd like you to come to our first practice."

Dana let her eyebrows raise and fall once in place of a smile. "Cool, where and when, man?"

"Next Tuesday. This year we've agreed to be the band for our school's Glee Club – so we've got to see what songs they've got planned, the arrangements, and get practicing."

Dana's face fell at Carlos' statement. "Glee, seriously?" She looked around at the other auditionees. "Is he being serious right now?" The boys around her holding their instruments chuckled quietly as to not embarrass Carlos, or one another. Before Carlos could speak up, Dana shrugged. "Fine, whatever. I won't knock it 'til I try it, but if this club sucks, I'm quitting."

"Quinn?" asked one of the girls who sat next to Charlie in the auditorium. "Quinn Fabray?"

"No," Charlie said with a smile. "Sorry."

"No," the girl said firmly. "You're Quinn – we have calculus together."

Charlie blushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm Charlie – Quinn's twin sister... triplets, actually."

The girl cocked her head to the side. "Really?"

"Yuh huh."

"Oh, I'm sorry for the mix-up. I'm Rachel Berry, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Charlie beamed. Aside from the girl who helped her pick up her books the first day of school, Rachel was really the first person to sit and talk with her.

"So, Glee Club, huh?" Rachel asked, putting her thick brown hair behind her ears. "What made you sign up for Glee?"

"Singing is something I do for fun," explained Charlie. "It's a nice break from all of the academic clubs, work and..."

"Charlie Fabray?" said Will Schuester, Spanish teacher and director of the Glee Club.

"Yes?" she squeaked from somewhere behind him in the auditorium.

"Charlie, you're up."

"Good luck!" Rachel whispered, beaming as Charlie stood and walked down the stairs to the stage. Charlie brushed the skirt of her little dress down, to get rid of any wrinkles and ran her fingers through her wavy hair, carefully, as to not misplace her barrette.

She nearly forgot she was holding her sheet music, which she handed off to the older man sitting at the piano half-heartedly. "I'm going to sing 'Electricity' from Billy Elliot, the musical," she said, holding up a finger to make it known she was talking.

"What a wonderful song!" Will exclaimed, putting his hand to his chest. "Alright, whenever you're ready, Charlie."

The music started, and she felt emotion of each key being pressed find its way to her heart. "I can't really explain it, I haven't got the words," she sang. "It's a feeling that you can't control. I suppose it's like forgetting, losing who you are, but at the same time, something makes you whole. It's like that there's a music playing in my ear, and I'm listening, and I'm listening, and then I disappear..." The song in context, of course, was about Billy's love for dance, but to Charlie, she just had to think about what it was like when she sung, and the words still kept their meaning. "Then I feel a change, like a fire deep inside, something bursts in me wide open, impossible to hide. Suddenly I'm flying, flying like a bird, like electricity, electricity, sparks inside of me, and I'm free, I'm free... Free – I'm free!" And she let the final high note fill the auditorium with her delicate voice.

Will looked almost stunned. "That was beautiful, Charlie."

"Thanks," she grinned, unable to hold it in. She looked around for Rachel and found her clapping along with the rest of the potential Glee Club members.

"We'll see you next Tuesday!"


	3. Out of My Comfort Zone

Chapter Three: Out of My Zone

Quinn watched the football team practicing across the field as she warmed up with the Cheerios. The boy who sat next to her in English, Finn, had become quarterback, and since then, her admiration for him began to grow at a rapid pace. But at the present day, she couldn't find his number among the other McKinley Spartans. He was on her mind the rest of the afternoon. When they were told to hit the showers, she saw him walking down the hall, away from the locker rooms. "Hey Finn," she said, casually picking up speed and tapping him on the shoulder from behind.

"Hi Quinn," Finn nodded. Her stomach was in knots; boys didn't usually need an introduction to know her name, but the fact that he knew it somehow made her feel happier.

Quinn fell into step with him and smiled at her feet, "Didn't see you at practice today."

"Oh," he stated simply. He wasn't planning on responding, but she looked like she was waiting for him to say something more, so he added an explanation. "Mr. Schue heard me singing in the hall after school on the way to the field and insisted I join his Glee Club."

"Glee Club?" Quinn raised her nose as if the words themselves carried a stench. "What'd you say?"

"I told him I would join."

With Finn Hudson as quarterback _and_ a singing sensation, he would be the man at the top of every girl's to-do list. Quinn had to claim him for her own, so she went after him the only way she knew how. "Is that where you're headed now?"

"Yeah," Finn pointed down the hall. "Choir room's that way."

"You know, I was thinking of signing up for Glee."

Finn furrowed his brow and looked down at her. "You? Really?"

"What?" Quinn asked with a smug look on her face. "You don't think I can sing and dance?"

"No, I just didn't think you were into that kinda stuff."

Quinn stared him down as though she truly was offended, which was hard to do since he was almost a foot taller than her, but she accomplished the task as any Fabray would have done.

"Mr. Schuester!"

"What is it, Charlie?"

"I don't understand what you're implying." Aside from Charlie herself, there were currently five members of the Glee Club: Rachel, the girl who helped her pick up her books – Tina, a very flamboyant boy called Kurt, a black powerhouse – Mercedes, and a boy in a wheelchair named Artie. "Is that your way of trying to get more people interested – by inviting a football player to join Glee?"

"I agree with Charlie," said Rachel, "why is it we can't win over the school with our undeniable talent?"

Mr. Schuester sighed heavily. "Trust me guys, this is gonna work."

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything important," Quinn said as she barged into the choir room, Finn chasing after her with his long strides. "But I'd like to audition for the Glee Club."

Charlie's mouth hung open, a look of disgust eminent on her features. "You?"

"Hi sis," Quinn added quite snobbishly.

Mr. Schuester allowed their staring contest for some moments later before he intervened. "Alright Quinn, what are you going to sing for us?"

It was just after lunch when Dana decided that school was finished for the day. There was a spot behind the general store across from McKinley that Dana found was especially great for smoking without getting caught. Not to mention, she could just run inside if her occasional drug of choice gave her wild munchies. On this particular day, someone else was sitting on the normally deserted curb. "Yo, Dana!"

She smirked and raised her nose in the air. "What are you doing here, Puckerman?"

"Same thing as you," he said freely, offering her a smoke, which she rejected as she pulled out her own and sat down next to him. "Light?" Puck was already lighting the cigarette hanging loosely from her lips when he asked. "So what's new?" he inquired. "Haven't seen you in class the last few times I actually went."

"I'm alright," Dana admitted. "I've been working on my music – going to band practice."

"I didn't know you were in band."

"Yeah, our director kind of sucks though, and he teamed us up with the Glee Club, so we're forced to go to their practices and play crappy showtunes starting today."

Puck laughed heartily and put his arm around Dana, pulling her closer. "I play guitar, too," said Puck, nodding at her guitar case which sat next to her on the curb. "It blows you're already in band or we could have started our own."

He winked at Dana and she chuckled. "It's the only thing in school I like."

"Even if you have to play crappy showtunes?" Puck smiled, encouraging and eventually earning a smile from Dana.

"Yeah." Then all at once, something hit her. "Can you sing at all?"

"I'm not too bad…" said Puck, unsure if he liked where she was headed.

"Glee is still trying to recruit more members; if you join, we can hang out during practice – that's Tuesday and Thursday after school."

It wasn't long after Quinn stormed into the choir room that the band showed up to play her audition song. When Dana walked into the room, every eye was on her, but her eyes were on her sister. "Quinn – what the hell are you doing here?"

"Trying out for Glee Club," she said sweetly.

Dana scanned the room and found Finn sitting on the uppermost platform as if to hide himself using the other members in the front row. "Oh," Dana winked at Quinn. "Gotcha." As if it was the very last thing on her mind, she looked over at the third triplet and lifted her hand instead of offering a full-on wave. "Hey Charlie."

"I'll be singing 'Say a Little Prayer', Mr. Schue."

"Alright Quinn, whenever you're ready."

Throughout Quinn's entire audition, Dana's eyes were glued to the door. Puck said he'd meet her in the choir room before the Glee meeting was over, but as the clock ticked on, it became evident that he wasn't going to make an appearance today. Quinn got accepted into Glee and she got to spend even more time with the guy she liked; Charlie was working her way up to be captain of every club she had joined so far; and Dana could count the things working out for her on one hand. She's the lead guitarist in the school band; but the fact they play for the Glee Club just retracted that point. So what did Dana have that she wanted? She had a friend she couldn't rely on to get her through the day, and she had two sisters who didn't care one way or the other what she did with her life. As a Fabray, not getting what she initially wanted really kept Dana out of her comfort zone.


	4. Friends and Foe

Chapter Four: Friends and Foe

Dana had successfully attended all three weeks of Glee Club meetings, and Puck failed to make an appearance at any of them. "Hey Ryan," she said to the bassist as they put their instruments away after practice. "Have you seen Puck around at all today?"

Ryan pushed his shaggy brown hair out of his face and shrugged half-heartedly. "That dude never comes to school… I don't know why you look so shocked," he added when her jaw dropped.

"I'm not _shocked_, I just really need to talk to him and I haven't seen him anywhere lately." They were on their way out of the choir room together when a passerby nudged Dana, making her lose footing and trip into an open locker. Even though Ryan grabbed her arm, keeping her on her feet, Dana's embarrassment was only fuel for her pent up anger, and slamming her face into someone's open locker door was going to be the factor that made it all leak out.

Ryan asked in a concerned manner, "You okay, Dana?"

Dana grabbed the locker and forced it shut, revealing the person who caused her demise. "You!"

"I'm s-s-sorry!"

She almost couldn't control it, but before she knew what she was saying, Dana was lashing out on this innocent Glee Clubber. "You think you're so freaking badass because you have blue hair and you colour your makeup? You're just a stupid loser like the rest of your precious Glee Club! I'm so sick of people pretending they have issues – just, just stay away from me, you fake goth poser!" And with that, Dana stormed off, leaving Tina to stare at her books alone in the empty hallway.

"Your voice is just a dream; I've loved it ever since that day we auditioned," Kurt confessed as he walked down the corridor arm in arm with Charlie.

She used her free hand to fix her hair as she blushed heavily. "I'm not that good. You, Kurt, are a force to be reckoned with."

"Singing isn't all that I can do," he said mock-seductively. "Hey, I'm studying for that science test at the library now; did you need to hit the books? I wouldn't mind having a study buddy!"

Charlie chuckled and grinned at him. "I definitely wouldn't mind going over my notes with someone." Upon turning the corner, Kurt and Charlie came to face Tina. She was on the floor, back against her locker, hugging her knees to her chest, and quite obviously crying. "Oh my God, Tina, are you alright?"

Tina wiped her eyes before she raised her head, careful not to smudge her purple eyeliner. "Charlie, you know I l-l-like you, b-but your sister is a t-t-terrorist."

"Which one?" she asked, a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"D-Dana shouted at me and c-c-called me such m-mean names – do you think I'm a poser?"

Charlie knelt down so she was eye-level with her fellow Glee Club member. "Tina, forget it, okay? If anyone's a poser, it's her. She's the one who has to bully people and hide her feelings. You're one hundred percent Tina – the girl I've come to be really good friends with."

"I usually look to Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth at times like these," Kurt said distantly. "Defying Gravity is one of the most listened-to songs on my 'Stay Confident' playlist."

Charlie looked from one put-down friend to the other and exhaled. "Okay, you know what, forget studying. The test isn't until next week. I think the three of us need to do something fun tonight."

"So, I'll see you tonight?" Quinn asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

Finn smiled. "Yeah, I'll pick you up at six."

"Can't wait," she winked and then walked back towards the Cheerios on the field. Almost immediately, Brittany and Santana approached the girl grinning quite stupidly, by this point. "So?" Santana smiled, "has he accepted your request to fornicate tonight?"

Brittany scrunched up her face and looked at Quinn with a blank stare. "Gross, Quinn."

Santana glanced at her, "Sex, Brittany. Fornication means sex."

"Oh," said Brittany. "I thought they were going to let everything go mouldy."

Ignoring their friend, Santana and Quinn carried on the conversation normally. "I'm not going to have sex with him, Santana – I want a romantic first date."

Santana looked confused. "I don't get it… but you can do whatever you want, 'cause when you screw up, he's all mine, bitch."

As Quinn rolled her eyes and laughed, a loud voice called at them from across the field. "Santana, Brittany, Q – I need to see you in my office!" Coach Sylvester shouted into her megaphone.

Once they were comfortably seated, the coach glared at them from behind her desk. "Girls, were you aware that Quinn joined the Glee Club?"

"Mhmm, yup," Brittany admitted. "She wanted to get closer to…"

"I don't care why she did it, the fact is she did it," Sylvester snapped. "And I need you two to join as well."

"But what if we can't get in?" Brittany asked, completely unaware of how strange the request sounded – especially coming from Sue Sylvester.

Their coach smirked. "Will Schuester lets everyone who tries out onto the team. But girls," she leaned closer to them, over the desk, indicating they should do the same. "I need eyes on the inside of this operation so I can take it down. You three are going to be those eyes. Can I trust you?"

Quinn didn't take a second to consider what this meant. In that second, she could have realized that this meant destroying the outlet for Charlie's passion, or Dana's band gig. In that second, she might have considered that Finn actually _liked_ being in Glee Club. But she didn't take that essential second. She just looked Coach Sylvester deep in the eye, smirked, and sternly said, "Of course."


	5. Let Loose

Chapter Five: Let Loose

It was another week before Dana found Puck, to no one's surprise, smoking behind the general store. "Puck!" she said coming off ruder than she's meant. "Where have you been?"

He just shrugged and blew a puff of smoke from his mouth. "Around. Why – what's going on?"

"You said you'd come to Glee. We need more members or we can't compete!" When Puck didn't reply right away, Dana plopped down next to him on the curb and snatched the joint from between his fingers.

"Hey!"

"Why didn't you come?"

"I didn't want to ditch football!" he shouted. "Everyone rips on Finn for leaving, and I don't care enough about singing to do that to myself."

Dana raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Fine, it's cool. I don't really care about the club, anyway. My sister's the one who…"

"Can it, dude," Puck said, taking back his smoke. "You obviously like being a part of that group for some reason."

"No Glee, no band," she concluded simply.

"Speaking of band, I noticed you're hanging out with that Ryan Lemmon guy now."

"You haven't been around, so yeah, I have."

"You guys a thing or what?"

Puck's question caught her off-guard, but Dana shook her head. "No way. We're just friends."

"Then he won't mind if you come to a little party I'm having tonight."

"He wouldn't, no." Dana smirked, encouraging Puck to go on.

"It starts at eight. Just follow the music – you'll find it."

"See you there, Puckerman."

Quinn was on her way to her locker when a strange sight made her stop in her tracks. As to not draw too much attention in the crowded hallway, she moved over to the wall and peered around an open door. Finn was at Quinn's locker, as usual, but he was talking to that dorky midget girl from Glee with the big voice. What did _she_ want…?

Walking briskly toward the pair of them, Quinn smiled uncomfortably. "Hi Finn!" she exclaimed, planting a long, territorial kiss on his mouth. "Hi Rachel, what's up?"

"I was walking by and Finn asked me about something for chemistry…"

"We're partners," Finn explained.

Quinn's perfect lips formed an O and she nodded, "Uh huh, well that's fascinating. Finn," her voice shorted out when thoughts of their partnership raced through her mind. "You can meet me by the car; I just have to ask Rachel about a Glee thing."

"Sure." And suddenly, the two of them felt very secluded, even though the hallway was still packed with after school traffic.

"Listen here, Rachel," Quinn spat in a hushed tone. "Finn is my boyfriend, not yours. I'm a cheerleader, he's the quarterback, and you," she eyed Rachel pitifully, "are just a Glee loser. You'll never have a chance with him, so you might as well beat it. Okay?"

Rachel concentrated on Quinn and thought a minute before she spoke. "I can see where mine and Finn's casual friendship would be threatening to you, but that's no reason to insult my character. Finn doesn't belong to anyone – we'll see what happens."

Without another word, Quinn slapped Rachel hard across the face and stormed off in the opposite direction.

"Hey Kurt," Charlie said, poking her head into the girls' room. "No one's in here."

"Thank God," Kurt exclaimed as he ran into the washroom and allowed the slushie that had been thrown on his face to drip into the sink. "Can you get this stuff out of my hair? I think it's starting to leave a stain."

"Is that even possible?" asked Charlie as she put Kurt's head under the sink to work the chunks of ice out with her fingers.

He twisted around in an awkward position to look at her. "Haven't you heard of blonde girls trying to use Kool-Aid as hair dye?"

"And it works?"

"Sometimes."

Just then, a dark blue ran into the washroom and locked herself in a stall. Kurt and Charlie glanced at one another and back at the stall. "Rachel?" she said. The girl audibly began to tear up. "Rachel, is that you?"

"I'm fine!" Rachel called back from the stall, her lip was quivering now, but the sobs were under control. "Just a little run in with someone, I'm alright." She emerged using a stream of toilet paper to dry her tears, "What are you two doing in here?"

"Well, I've got my head under the faucet because I just love the way this position twists my back in knots," Kurt replied in a heavily sarcastic manner.

Rachel flinched. "Slushie facial, huh?"

"One of the worst I've seen this year," Charlie admitted. "Some guy on the football team… Karofsky?"

"Urg," Rachel scoffed. "Dave Karofsky has slushied every single one of us… Well, except you, Charlie. He's so dumb, he probably can't tell you apart from Quinn."

Once Charlie had finished cleansing Kurt's pores, she looked at her watch. "It's already four. Do you guys feel like going for dinner?"

Kurt's eyes lit up. "Ladies, I think it's the bottomless pasta bowl special at Breadstix tonight." He paused before adding, "And I don't have a limit on my carbs today!"

That was all that had to be said before Charlie and Rachel got into Kurt's car, excited to spend even more time together.

"Here's to New Directions," Rachel declared, holding her glass of water up in the air. Kurt, who sat between them followed almost immediately, and then Charlie raised her glass daintily to meet theirs. "Here's to a great performance at Sectionals, and to making it to Nationals!"

"Hear, hear!" Kurt said, with a hearty giggle.

They both sipped from their cups, but Charlie left hers lifted. "Um, I'd also like to toast to good friends." Kurt and Rachel looked at her and tilted their heads with intrigue. "And to finally finding a place where we can be accepted – I've never met people like you, and I'm so grateful." Such a scene could only have been pulled off by a group of drama queens like the three students huddled around a corner table. "Well, let's eat!"

"Raging party!" Dana shouted at Puck over the loud music. His living room and kitchen areas were filled with beer cans, wine coolers and bottles of booze – none of which were being consumed. No one showed up but Dana. Her face proved she was not amused with the situation.

Puck's straight expression masked his rage at her comment. "Shut up, Fabray!"

"Maybe you should have given better directions to your house besides 'follow the loud music', numbskull." Aside from the blaring rock n' roll, there was silence between them. "This sucks. I'm leaving."

"Hey!" Puck grasped her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "Quit your whining and suck on your bottle, you big baby!" She moodily glared at him and then put the wine cooler she'd been drinking back to her lips. "I had plans to get wasted tonight and you're not going anywhere until you've had your share of all this liquor!"

Puck's request only seemed reasonable because deep down, Dana didn't want to leave. She wanted to get so drunk that maybe he wouldn't care that she was dancing so close to him. And as the party for two raged on, this possibility grew more and more likely.

"Where are you going?" a smashed Puck asked.

"Up-upstairs!"

"Why are you going upstairs?" He didn't sound confused, or curious; he sounded fascinated. "What are you gonna do upstairs?"

"Iunno," Dana slurred and shrugged over-dramatically. "It's too loud down here. I have a headache."

"We can turn the music down."

"No, no, no we can't," Dana insisted. "It's too far away." Of course, the stereo was far closer than the upper floor, but that's the great thing about alcohol: it makes you too stupid to care.

Dana was on her way up the stairs when Puck called after her. "Wait! Wait! Let me come!"

"It's _your_ house, man!" Dana laughed hysterically, managing to find the bedroom that belonged to Puck and crashing onto his bed. "Whoa!"

"I got you!" he jumped onto the bed and held her, even though she was clearly safe. "You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine," she chuckled. "I am so fine; it's not even funny anymore."

"You are so fine!" Puck laughed. It didn't take more than a misunderstood compliment for Dana to reach up and kiss him forcefully. He pushed her away only long enough to say, "I'm with Santana," but then continued to kiss her heavily.

"If you don't care, I don't care." And they were out of their clothes within seconds.


	6. Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Six: Dirty Little Secret

One fateful weekend that fall, Charlie found herself having a shower before bed one night. This wasn't part of her normal routine, but her study habits mixed with the social life she'd recently acquired had her very stressed out, and the steam was soothing. It was this out-of-character move that put all the cards in Charlie's hands, for when she got out, she couldn't help but notice a little purple stick poking out of the garbage can.

Charlie made sure the door was in fact locked and that no one was waiting outside once her pajamas were on. Using fresh toilet paper, she shielded her fingers and clamped onto the stick with her make-shift tongs, inspecting it more closely. All she needed to see was the small plus sign to know someone was in trouble, and it couldn't be her.

As she exited the bathroom, she noticed Dana storm by. "Hey!" Charlie squeaked, following Dana's long strides to her room. "Let me in!"

"No one's stopping you," Dana scoffed, not cracking a smile when Charlie walked in. Her room was painted dark red and almost everything else in the room was black. It was bold, just like the girl who inhabited it. "You haven't been home very often in the past week or so."

"I have, you just haven't seen me."

"Where have you been?" Charlie asked, not surprised when Dana didn't respond right away. She approached the bed where her sister sat and took a seat herself. "Mom's worried about you. …So am I."

"I'm fine," snapped Dana. "I've been hanging with Puck. It's cool."

"Is it?" Charlie shot back. "I found a pregnancy test in the trash; are you sure it's not yours?"

At once, Dana's face fell and she actually looked concerned. It wasn't a face people often got to see. "It's not mine."

"Really?"

"Yes! It's not mine!"

They were both silent for a minute as the idea made its way into each of their heads. But there was no way - it couldn't be…

"Isn't Quinn the president of the Celibacy Club?" asked Dana.

"Oh, Dad is going to be so mad when he finds out! Dana, we have to talk to her. Imagine how scared she is right now."

But the sister in question was already standing at the open door in her Cheerios uniform, listening as they discussed her condition. "Quinn!" Charlie exclaimed, wrapping her in her arms.

Dana just stared. "How did this happen?"

"Finn said we didn't have to… he was being so sweet… It just sort of happened…" Quinn's own story brought her to tears as the reality came crashing upon her. "What am I going to do?" she sobbed.

Dana came over and joined their hug. "We're going to get through this together. I'm failing out of school anyway. I can use my time to get a job and help you pay for those doctor bills."

"And I can make sure Mom and Dad don't find out, at least for a while," said Charlie.

Quinn began to smile - a real, genuine smile - not to get something, but a smile that showed how truly appreciative she was of their help. "Thanks you guys."

"Have you told Finn yet?" asked Dana in all seriousness.

Quinn shrugged. "Not yet. I'm not exactly sure how."

"You know you have to tell him."

"I know."

At school on Monday, Charlie and Dana followed Quinn around all day until she finally brought up the subject to Finn. "I'm pregnant, Finn." Quinn said, not beating around the bush longer than necessary.

Finn's eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm pregnant."

"But we used protection…" She tried her best not to break down crying and scare him off, but tears escaped their ducts some how, regardless. "Sh, shh, it's okay." Finn said, holding her tightly in his lanky, comforting arms. "It'll be okay."

Meanwhile, Dana found herself having lunch with Charlie that afternoon. It was her first time eating in the school cafeteria since they got there.

"This food isn't so bad," Dana said.

Charlie smiled and popped a french fry in her mouth. "Are you going to the football game Friday?" she asked. "Quinn's cheering."

Dana shrugged and then raised an eyebrow. "Is it safe for her to be jumping around with a baby in there?" inquired Dana.

"Quinn's not stupid; she'll say she can't be top of the pyramid and stick to doing some high kicks on the ground or something."

"Okay," Dana agreed. "I'll see you there."

The game hadn't even started when Dana found Charlie looking frazzled and concerned. "Dana, I need to talk to you."

"What is it?" she said. "I'm supposed to meet up with Puck."

"Did you know Puck is dating Santana?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Oh, I thought you two were like…" Dana shook her head quickly and Charlie took a deep breath. "Good, I'd hate to see you hurt."

But Dana wasn't listening. The idea wasn't nearly as bad as actually watching Puck jam his tongue down her throat, which he was in fact doing - in the middle of the football field, next to all the other cheerleaders.

"Slut."


	7. Loyalties Lie

Chapter Seven: Loyalties Lie

Quinn was walking down the halls at McKinley days later, her confidence completely shot now that her boyfriend was aware of their very big dilemma. Suddenly, she heard a voice calling after her - one she knew would only change her mood from bad to worse.

"Quinn Fabray, I'd like to see you in my office - right now." Coach Sylvester didn't call her Q, nor was she yelling. Both were signs predicting misfortune. She followed the Coach into her office and sat opposite her, across from the desk. "I was informed by one of those acne-ridden AV losers that you, Quinn, my head Cheerio, are pregnant." Quinn didn't respond. She just let her eyes fall to her lap. There were very few things that left Quinn speechless, but apparently being called out on her pregnancy was one of them. It was only a matter of time before this talk was being had. "So it is true? Well, I can't have a girl doing a handspring into a round off - the judges will fear for the pre-heating bun in her oven!" Fingering the material of her red and white pleated skirt, Quinn's eyes began to water, and eventually tears fell to her lap with gentle sobs. "You think this is hard?" Coach Sylvester asked, growing frustrated. "Try pushing a head the size of a melon out of your not-so-celibate lady parts in seven and a half months - that's hard!"

She didn't even want to show up to the Glee Club meeting after school that day, but any odd behaviour would only give away her secret to the rest of the club. If her plan played out properly, they would never have to find out.

"Hey everybody!" Mr. Schue beamed at the students in front of him. "I'm very excited to announce that we got three more recruits this week, finally giving us enough members to compete in Sectionals this year! Please give a big Glee Club welcome to Mike Chang, Noa…" Puck glared at Mr. Schue from his seat next to Santana. "Sorry… _Puck_ and Sam Evans!"

From her place with the rest of the band, Dana clapped half-heartedly along with everyone else. It was difficult enough watching Puck put his arm around other girls, but it was even worse being forced to bare witness to this in her own domain. By the end of the meeting, Dana's pent up rage could hardly be contained.

"Hey Puckerman," she growled.

"Dana!" Puck greeted happily. "I came to Glee; you talked me into it. I guess it's not as dorky as I thought…"

His cheerful hello made everything she felt seem unimportant. "It's good to see you, man," she finally said with a forced smile.

"Yeah," said Puck. "Haven't seen you since…"

"The party?" Dana sneered. "Speaking of which, does your girlfriend know about that night yet?"

"Are you crazy? Hell no. And I'd appreciate if you didn't blow it." He walked back to Santana and they strutted out of the room together. Puck had no intention of breaking up with her anytime soon. Had the room been empty, Dana may have broken down and cried a little, but there were two more Glee Club geeks putting their things into their bags.

"Hey Tina," she said, striding toward the girl across the choir room. "Nice outfit."

"Oh," Tina gasped at the sight of her bully. "Th-thanks."

"Yeah, love the black lace and wristbands… Tell me, where did you learn how to dress like a disturbed emo teenager - _Twilight_?"

"Hey, why don't you back off, Fabray?" Artie had been quiet up until now, but when Dana started to threaten his friend, he rolled his chair toward her and straightened his back. "Tina can dress however she wants, or read whatever she wants. It's pathetic that her interests make such an impact on your life. What has she ever done to you?"

"Tina is a poser. She gives our look a bad name. You look at her and she pretends she's hurting, while some of us actually _are_."

Charlie found herself walking home that afternoon, bundled tight in her wool coat and scarf, carrying an abundance of books that wouldn't fit in her bag. "Hey Charlie!"

She turned on her heel to see her friend rushing to catch up. "Hi Rachel!"

"Do you need help with those?" Rachel immediately questioned, taking half the books off her stack without being asked. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over and maybe practice for Sectionals?"

Charlie didn't have to think long before saying quite enthusiastically, "Sure!"

Rachel's bedroom could only be described as _cute_. Charlie was loving the Broadway posters, stacks of playbills everywhere and the pale pink comforter on her four-poster bed that matched the colour of the walls. "Your room is so adorable. Can I move in?"

They both giggled, but Rachel smiled and said, "Thanks, I put special thought into everything I have in my room. I'm in here all the time rehearsing and studying, I figure I should probably surround myself with things that make me happy."

"That's how I treat my friends," Charlie agreed. "That's why there aren't very many," she chuckled, "I only keep the ones around that are really special."

Rachel raised an eyebrow and sat on the bed. "See, I don't believe that. You're amazing. How can you only have a few good friends?"

"Some people aren't as welcoming as you, Rachel. A lot of people… especially at my old school… they used to call me a nerd, or they'd push me away for no reason. Surprisingly, not a lot of people like spending time with a girl who's first priority is straight As."

Rachel learned something about her friend that night, but it wasn't that Charlie had a past that haunted her every day; she learned they both had something in common. They both had bad reputations that caused them to be very under-rated girls.


	8. Tough Love

Chapter Eight: Tough Love

"Ryan, have you seen Puck anywhere?" Dana asked on their way to her locker after the final bell. He shrugged and pointed a ways down the hall to where Puck stood over Santana, leaning against her locker, kissing him gently on the lips. Without saying anything to Ryan, Dana stormed down the corridor and tapped Puck roughly on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you, _Puckerman_?"

"What do you want, Fabray?" he asked, quite obviously frustrated that she interrupted his moment with Santana.

"I want to know why you're so damn okay with the fact that we…"

"Okay, let's talk."

But by the time Puck intervened, it was too late. "'We' what?" Santana inquired, one hand on her hip. "Why are you so obsessed with my man, Fabray?"

"Obsessed?" Dana scoffed. "I don't need to be obsessed. Why don't you ask your boyfriend what he's been up to recently?"

Santana's jaw dropped. "Y'know, I don't need this, Puck." And without missing a beat, Santana had smiled at an approaching boy, wrapped her arm around his waist and was walking off with him.

When she was out of their sight, Puck pushed Dana by the shoulders, not too hard that she got hurt, but hard enough to make her lose her footing.

"What the hell?" she shouted, shoving him back.

"What is your problem?" Puck's voice was raised in such a tone that made Dana feel a little unsafe. "I thought you were cool. Why'd you have to do that for?"

"Tell your girlfriend you cheat on her? Or point out the fact she's a slut, too? I was helping you out, dumb shit."

"Bringing up the night we were together? Why? You got one night of fun, but it just wasn't enough… it never is," Puck smouldered a little, but didn't lose his control. "Admit it, Dana, ever since that night, you've wanted something more from me – some kind of commitment that you know I can't give you."

"I don't…"

"And now you ruined things with Santana, the hottest chick at this sad school!"

Puck stormed off, leaving Dana alone in the hallway to realize that everything he'd said to her was completely, utterly, one hundred percent true.

"I spend more time in this auditorium than my own house," Rachel admitted, laughing along with Charlie, pulling her by the hand toward the stage – skipping as quickly as they could. "Look, here,"she pushed Charlie to centre stage, still holding her hand.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"Shut your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel the audience watching you, feel the power of your voice…"

Charlie took off her toque, put her hat and gloves in it and threw the bundle somewhere in the wings, then faced the empty seats and shut her eyes. Taking the deep breath, Charlie felt herself on a stage in front of hundreds of people. "Okay, this is cool," Charlie chuckled softly, squeezing Rachel's hand out of fear. "They're watching me – what do I do?"

"Sing," Rachel simply stated. "Sing from here." She pushed Charlie's stomach, "But most importantly, sing from here," and then she moved her hand from her stomach to her heart.

Rachel took a step away from Charlie, letting her face the imaginary audience on her own. With her crutch gone, she inhaled deeply and started to sing. As she continued the soft ballad, Rachel snuck up behind her and wrapped her arms around Charlie's waist, continuing the song. Charlie's eyelids fluttered open and she turned around, burying her face into Rachel's hair. "Thank you."

"For what?" She felt Rachel smiling into her shoulder.

"For making me feel special."

That evening, Quinn came home from Finn's house, planning to go straight to her room and study. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. She was going to pass through the living room, but that turned into her final stop. Her parents stood shoulder to shoulder behind the coffee table.

"Hi Mommy, hi Daddy," she squeaked.

Neither of them had smiles on their faces. "We got an interesting piece of mail today," Mr. Fabray said sternly, tossing a thick envelope onto the table. Quinn picked it up and read the cover. It was addressed to her, and it was from the doctor. "Why would you need an obstetrician, Quinn?"

"I…" She was in absolute shock. She hadn't prepared to deal with this moment yet. "Mommy?" Mrs. Fabray couldn't even look her daughter in the eye.

"What's going on?" Dana asked. She was wearing her Lima Bean uniform and Charlie followed close behind her, wearing a confused look on her face.

Mr. Fabray glared at them. "Where have you girls been?"

"I was at work, and Charlie was at the library, so I gave her a life home. What's going on?" Dana repeated. She was the only one of the three of them who wasn't afraid of their father.

He found Quinn's eyes again and shouted, "What's going on? Your sister is a harlot. That is what's going on!"

Both Quinn and Charlie started to tear up. "I made a mistake, Daddy! I made a mistake…"

"Damn right you made a mistake. I will not have a _whore_ living under my roof, bringing shame to my family!"

"Daddy, no!" Charlie gasped.

"Quinn, you have half an hour to pack your things and get the hell out of this house."

"Dad, please…" Quinn sobbed.

"You're wasting time."

Quinn and Charlie ran upstairs to pack everything she'd need. They knew he wasn't kidding around. Dana took a few steps toward her father until she was nose to nose with him. "Quinn isn't the one bringing shame on this family, it's you."

"You can get out, too!" Mr. Fabray bellowed. Dana didn't even blink. She turned on her heel, remembering her guitar case and school bags were still in her trunk, gripped her car keys and slammed the door behind her.

"Oh God, Quinn," Charlie said through heavy tears, "what are you gonna do?"

"Finn will probably take me in… I hope…" She folded a shirt and threw it in her suitcase on top of the other essentials as quickly as possible. "Bye Charlie," Quinn said. And within ten minutes, Charlie was completely alone, bawling her eyes out into what used to be Quinn's pillow.


End file.
